4 


Vv\  —  Wv  \  “o  C 


Report  of  the 
Committee  of  Seven  on 
the  Functions  and 
Authority  of  the  General 

V 

Conference 


TO  THE  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
CONFERENCE  FOR  1917 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  SEVEN  ON  THE 
FUNCTIONS  AND  AUTHORITY  OF  THE 
GENERAL  CONFERENCE 

In  the  interest  of  an  accurate,  historical  statement,  a  word 
here  is  necessary  as  to  the  reason  for  the  appointment  of  this 
committee  in  January,  1916.  For  several  years  it  had  been 
apparent  that  there  was  an  undefined  but  very  real  question 
in  the  minds  of  many  members  of  the  Conference  as  to 
whether  or  not  the  Conference  was  in  danger  of  assuming  too 
much  authority  and  moving  unconsciously  toward  a  central¬ 
ization  of  power  that  would  be  dangerous.  This  undefined 
fear  crystallized  about  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Revi¬ 
sion  of  the  Constitution,  which  was  made  'in  1916,  and  which 
had  endeavored  to.  allay  this  fear,  but  without  entire  success. 
The  report  as  then  made  was  finally  adopted  after  the  sug¬ 
gestion  had  been  agreed  to  that  the  functions  of  the  Confer- 
ence  should  be  defined  more  clearly  by  a  special  committee  to 
report  this  year,  1917.  It  was  in  the  endeavor  to  solve  this 
latter  problem  that  the  Committee  of  Seven  was  appointed. 
The  resolution  under  which  the  committee  is  acting  is  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

“ Resolved ,  That  a  Special  Committee  of  Seven  be  appointed  to  pre¬ 
pare  a  statement  which  shall  define  more  clearly  what  are  the  func¬ 
tions  and  authority  of  the  Conference  and  the  conditions  and  respon¬ 
sibilities  of  membership  in  the  Conference ;  that  this  statement  be 
put  into  such  form  that  it  may  become  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  Conference ;  and  that  the  Committee  submit  said  statement  to  the 
hoards  as  a  proposed  amendment,  so  that  it  may  be  legally  voted 
upon  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Conference,  and  that  in  submitting 
said  statement  to  the  Boards  they  be  requested  to  take  action  upon 
the  same/’  The  following  Committee  was  appointed :  Charles  R. 
Watson,  Convener;  Stanley  Wdiite,  James  Endicott,  John  W.  Wood, 
James  L.  Barton,  Frank  Mason  North,  Miss  Mabel  Head. 

The  Committee  has  held,  three  meetings'  in  addition  to  a 
preliminary  meeting  for  organization.  It  has  earnestly  sought 
to  discharge  the  duties  laid  upon  it  and  to  suggest  such  defini- 
.tions  of  the  functions  of  the  Conference  as  will  not  only  clar¬ 
ify  the  purposes  for  which  the  Conference  was  organized,  but 
also  allay  any  feeling  that  the  Conference  is  endangering  the 
individuality  of  the  members  or  falling  into  the  control  of  a 
particular  group  of  persons.  As  a  result  of  the  deliberations 
of  the  Committee,  a  letter  was  sent  to  all  of  the  Boards  rep¬ 
resented  in  the  Conference,  outlining  the  proposed  report  and 
requesting  amendment,  criticism  and  action.  The.  amend¬ 
ments  with  the  articles  of  the  Constitution  to  which  they  re¬ 
late  are  here  given  as  follows: 


OBJECT 

Present  Article: 

OBJECT 

t 

This  Conference  is  organized  primarily  for  the  consideration  of 
questions  relating  to  the  Administration  of  Foreign  Missions  and  for 
the  investigation  and  consideration  of  matters  of  practical  interest 
to  the  participating  Boards  and  Societies.  It  is  the  agent  of  all  the 
Societies,  individually  and  collectively,  for  securing  information  and 
for  promoting  the  measures  that  shall  conserve  the  best  interests  of 
all.  The  value  of  all  its  declarations  will  in  a  large  measure  rest  in 
the  thoroughness  of  its  investigations,  in  the  sanity  of  its  methods  of 
procedure,  and  in  the  reasonableness  of  its  conclusions.  The  object 
of  the  Conference  is  to  foster  and  promote  a  true  science  of  mis¬ 
sions. 

The  meetings  of  the  Conference  are  not  held  for  the  purpose  of  ex¬ 
ploiting  or  endorsing  the  work  of  any  organization  or  society;  there¬ 
fore  the  time  of  the  meetings  shall  not  be  taken  up  for  this  purpose, 
except  as  called  for  by  some  Conference  Committee. 

1.  That  the  section  be  changed  to  read  as  follows: 

FUNCTIONS 

The  functions  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  Amer¬ 
ica  are  to  provide  for  an  Annual  Conference  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Boards  and  Societies  of  North  America;  to  provide,  through  its  Com¬ 
mittees,  for  the  investigation  and  study  of  missionary  problems ;  to 
foster  and  promote  a  true  science  of  missions ;  and  to  itself  perform 
directly  or  through  its  Committees  certain  specific  work  of  interest 
to  Boards  and  Societies  participating  in  the  Conference.  It  is  not 
within  the  scope  of  the  Conference  to  consider  questions  of  ecclesias¬ 
tical  faith  and  order  which  represent  denominational  differences. 

2.  That  the  following  section  be  added: 

AUTHORITY 

The  Conference  and  its  Committees  represent  the  participating 
Boards  and  Societies  in  the  sense  of  possessing  unique  opportunity 
for  knowing  the  mind  and  policies  of  these  several  missionary  agen¬ 
cies  and  of  enjoying’ direct  contact  with  their  administrative  activities. 
The  influence  and  usefulness  of  the  Conference  will  depend  upon  the 
thoroughness  of  its  investigations,  the  soundness  of  its  methods  of 
procedure,  and  the  reasonableness  of  its  conclusions  and  recommenda¬ 
tions.  The  Conference  being  a  purely'voluntary  association  of  Boards 
and  Societies,  neither  it  nor  any  of  its  Committees  has  authority  to 
commit  the  participating  Boards  and  Societies  to  any  position,  policy 
or  course  of  action,  except  as  any  of  the  participating  Boards  and 
Societies  may,  under  the  provisions  of  the  Section  on  Voting,  re¬ 
quest  or  authorize  the  Conference  or  its  Committees  to  act. 

MEETINGS 

Present  Article: 

MEETINGS 

The  meetings  shall  be  held  annually  in  January,  at  such  time  and 
place  as  may  be  designated  by  the  preceding  Conference  or  by  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements. 


3 


I 


3.  That  the  section  be  amended  to  read  as  follows: 

MEETINGS 

A  meeting  shall  be  held  annually  in  January  at  such  time  and  at 
such  place  as  may  be  designated  by  the  preceding  Conference  or  by 
the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel. 

The  meetings  of  the  Conference  are  not  held  for  the  purpose  of 
exploiting  or  endorsing  the  work  of  any  organization  or  society ; 
therefore,  the  time  of  the  meeting  shall  not  'be  taken  up  for  this  pur¬ 
pose,  except  as  called  for  by  some  Conference  Committee. 

MEMBERSHIP 

Present  Article: 

MEMBERSHIP 

Foreign  missionary  boards  and  societies,  having  separate  church  con¬ 
stituencies  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  whose  annual  incomes  are 
less  than  $20,000  shall  be  entitled  to  be  represented  in  the  Foreign 
Missions  Conference  of  North  America  by  one  executive  officer  or 
elected  delegate.  Boards  or  societies  having  incomes  between  $20,000 
and  $100,000  shall  be  entitled  to  be  represented  by  three  delegates,  in¬ 
cluding  executive  officers.  Boards  or  societies  having  incomes  over 
$100,000  shall  be  entitled  to  one  additional  delegate  for  each  additional 
$100,000  or  fraction  thereof.  Boards  and  societies  having  incomes 
over  $800,000  shall  be  entitled  to  one  additional  delegate  for  each 
additional  $200,000  or  fraction. 

Boards  or  societies  conducting  both  home  and  foreign  missions  shall 
base  their  representation  on  their  income  or  pro  rata  expenditure  for 
foreign  missions. 

For  purposes  of  representation  in  the  Conference,  the  income  of  a 
woman’s  board  or  society  of  foreign  missions,  whether  auxiliary  or  in¬ 
dependent  of  the  general  board  of  the  church  to  which  it  belongs, 
may  be  included  as  part  of  the  income  of  such  general  board,  pro¬ 
vided  that  said  board  base  its  pro  rata  contribution  toward  the  ex¬ 
penses  of  the  Conference  upon  such  inclusion. 

The  secretary  of  the  Conference  shall  furnish  suitable  credential 
blanks  to  the  constituent  boards  and  societies  at  least  sixty  days  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  the  meeting  of  the  Conference. 

The  basis  of  representation  of  the  following  Societies,  because  of 
their  close  relations  to  foreign  missionary  work  as  interdenominational 
co-operating  agencies  which  send  out  missionaries,  in  consultation 
with  the  Church  Boards  and  Societies,  to  serve  the  common  interest, 
shall  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  Societies  having  separate  church  con¬ 
stituencies  : 

The  American  Bible  Society. 

The  International  Committee  of  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associa¬ 
tions. 

The  Foreign  Department  of  the  National  Board  of  the  Young  Wo¬ 
men’s  Christian  Association. 

The  following  Societies,  because  of  their  close  relation  to  foreign 
missionary  work  as  interdenominational  co-operating  agencies  which 
serve  the  common  interest  at  the  home  base,  in  consultation  with  the 
Church  Boards  and  Societies,  shall  be  entitled  to  one  delegate  each  : 

The  Missionary  Education  Movement. 

The  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 

The  Laymen’s  Missionary  Movement. 

The  American  Tract  Society. 

The  World’s  Sunday  School  Association. 

4 


Distinguished  guests,  foreign  missionaries,  members  of  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sion  Boards  and  Societies  who  are  not  delegates,  and  officers  and 
members  of  the  Executive  Committees  of  international  and  unde¬ 
nominational  agencies  directly  interested  in  foreign  missionary  work, 
may  be  invited  by  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  to  sit  as  corre¬ 
sponding  members,  with  the  privilege  of  participation  in  the  discus¬ 
sions,  but  without  power  to  vote. 

4.  That  the  third  paragraph  be  made  to  read  as  follows : 

For  purposes  of  representation  in  the  Conference,  the  income  of  a 
Woman’s  Board  or  Society  of  Foreign  Missions,  whether  auxiliary  or 
independent  of  the  General  Board  of  the  Church  to  which  it  belongs, 
may  be  included  as  part  of  the  income  of  such  General  Board,  and 
the  General  Board  shall,  if  practicable,  arrange  with  the  Woman’s 
Board  for  its  proportionate  representation  in  the  Conference. 

5.  That  after  this  section,  the  following  section  be  added : 

VOTING 

Each  fully  accredited  delegate,  present  at  any  meeting  of  the  Con¬ 
ference,  is  entitled  to  a  vote.  When  the  Conference  is  expressing  its 
judgment  as  a  Conference  upon  matters  properly  coming  before  it,  a 
two-thirds  vote  shall  be  required.  Votes  are  to  be  regarded  as  the 
expression  of  the  personal  judgment  of  the  members  of  the  Confer¬ 
ence  and  do  not  therefore  commit  the  respective  Boards  and  Soci¬ 
eties.  If  any  Board  or  Society  participating  in  the  Conference,  or  if 
the  Conference  itself,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  members  present 
at  any  regular  meeting,  propose  a  measure  which  would  commit  the 
participating  Boards  and  Societies  to  a  given  position,  policy,  or 
course  of  action,  this  measure  shall  first  be  submitted  to  the  Boards 
and  Societies  involved,  for  their  formal  approval.  When  the  measure 
has  been  approved  by  a  majority  of  the  number  of  votes  to  which  the 
Boards  involved  would  be  entitled  in  the  Conference,  the  Conference 
or  any  of  its  Committees  may  proceed  to  take  such  action  as  the  vote 
would  justify,  provided  always  that  said  action  shall  be  represented 
as  taken  in  behalf  only  of  the  Boards  and  Societies  that  have  ap¬ 
proved  the  measure  proposed. 

EXPENSES 

Present  Article: 

EXPENSES 

The  expenses  of  the  delegates  shall  be  met  by  their  respective 
Boards  or  by  the  delegates  themselves.  In  addition,  for  the  general 
expenses  of  the  Conference,  each  Board  and  Society  shall  be  asked  to 
contribute  in  proportion  to  the  income  which  forms  its  basis  of  repre¬ 
sentation. 

6.  That  the  section  be  amended  to  read  as  follows : 

EXPENSES 

The  expenses  of  the  delegates  shall  be  met  by  their  respective 
Boards  or  by  the  delegates  themselves.  In  addition,  for  the  general 
expenses  of  the  Conference  and  its  affiliated  activities,  each  Board 
and  Society  shall  be  asked  to  contribute  directly  or  indirectly,  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  the  income  which  forms  the  basis  of  its  representation, 
but  any  Board  may,  for  reasons,  contribute  less  than,  this  amount  or 
designate  its  contribution  exclusively  to  specific  portions  of  the  bud¬ 
get  of  the  Conference  and  such  action  shall  in  no  wise  affect  the 
membership  or  standing  of  said  Board  or  Society  in  the  Conference. 

5 


ADDITIONAL  AMENDMENT 

7.  That  in  the  section  entitled  “Committees’’  the  sentence 
beginning  “No  member  of  the  Conference  shall  be  eligible," 
etc.,  be  amended  to  read  as  follows: 

"No  member  of  a  Standing  Committee  shall  be  eligible  for  re-elec¬ 
tion  as  a  member  of  that  Committee  until  after  the  lapse  of  one  year 
subsequent  to  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office.” 

These  amendments  are  proposed  with  a  view  to  defining 
more  clearly  the  functions  and  authority  of  the  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sions  Conference  of  North  America.  The  Committee  is  of  the 
opinion  that  the  anxieties  and  dissatisfaction  which  led  to  the 
Committee’s  appointment  were  of  two  sorts :  on  the  one  hand, 
there  were  those  who  preferred  to  limit  the  Conference  to  its 
purely  conferential  functions  and  who  would  have  had  all 
formal  action  or  executive  activity  carried  on  apart  from  the 
Conference,  by  such  Committees  as  the  Boards  interested  in 
each  proposed  activity  might  choose  to  appoint.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  were  those  who  were  not  averse  to  the  Confer¬ 
ence  and  its  Committees  engaging  in  executive  activities,  such 
as  had  characterized  the  past,  but  who  felt  that  the  Constitu¬ 
tion  of  the  Conference  should  provide  adequate  definition  of 
the  scope  of  such  activities  and  particularly  of  the  methods 
of  procedure  to  be  followed  in  securing  authorization  for  such 
activities. 

The  Committtee  carefully  considered  both  views  and  finally 
became  committed  to  the  second,  chiefly  for  the  following 
reasons:  (a)  It  was  convinced  that  the  prevailing  judgment 
in  the  Conference  is  averse  to  either  the  abandonment  of  the 
enterprises  and  activities  now  carried  on  by  the  Conference, 
or  to  the  committal  of  these  activities  to  numerous  independ¬ 
ent  committees  or  to  a  group  of  Boards  organized  separately 
from  the  Conference  for  the  administration  of  these  activities, 
(b)  It  further  felt  that  the  deepest  anxieties  of  those  who 
wished  to  limit  the  Conference  to  its  purely  conferential  char¬ 
acter  could  be  relieved  and  their  desires  largely  met  by  a 
clear  definition  of  the  functions  of  the  Conference  and  of  the 
limited  sense  in  which  it  is  representative  of  the  Boards,  and 
by  clearer  and  more  definite  regulations  governing  the  methods 
of  procedure  where  measures  are  proposed  calling  for  action. 

In  general,  the  amendments  proposed  are  thought  to  secure 
the  following  ends : 

(1)  Boards  and  Societies  are  not  individually  committed  to 
any  measure  by  a  mere  vote  of  the  Conference. 

(2)  With  that  understanding,  however,  the  Conference 
may,  as  may  any  popular  gathering,  express  its  own  judgment 
as  a  Conference  and  may  initiate  action. 

(3)  Where  any  action  or  measure  is  of  such  a  character  as 

6 


lo  commit  given  Hoards  to  a  position  or  policy  or  course  of 
action:  (aj  the  initiative  in  such  a  measure  is  safeguarded 
by  being  vested  either  in  a  Board’s  formal  request  for  such  a 
measure,  or  in  such  a  general  desire  of  the  Conference  for  it 
as  will  command  a  two-thirds  vote;  and  (b)  the  measure 
must  be  overtimed  to  the  Boards  concerned;  and  (c)  action 
can  only  be  taken  when  the  measure  has  gained  approval  such 
as  will  be  indicated  by  a  majority  of  the  total  number  of  votes 
which  the  Boards  involved  would  command  in  a  regular  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Conference. 

(4)  Membership  in  the  Conference  does  not  depend  upon 
financial  contribution  to  the  budget,  neither  is  it  affected  ad¬ 
versely  by  unwillingness,  for  reasons,  to  contribute  to  the  Con¬ 
ference  budget. 

In  submitting  these  amendments,  the  Committee  also  sub¬ 
mits  for  adoption  by  the  next  Conference  the  following  reso¬ 
lution  : 

'The  provisions  of  these  newly  proposed  amendments  are 
not  retroactive,  nor  shall  they  be  interpreted  as  undermining 
the  authority  and  legitimacy  of  measures  and  activities  previ¬ 
ously  approved  by  the  Conference  and  in  operation  at  the  time 
of  the  adoption  of  these  amendments.” 

While  the  Committee’s  direct  commission  related  only  to  a 
definition  of  the  functions  and  authority,  the  responsibilities 
and  membership  of  the  Conference,  the  members  of  the  Com¬ 
mittee  united  in  recommending  the  amendment  designated 
above  "Additional  Amendment,”  as  it  was  their  opinion  that  a 
more  rigid  adherence  to  the  rotary  principle  of  Committee  ap¬ 
pointments  would  help  to  relieve  much  of  the  dissatisfaction 
which  has  been  referred  to  and  keep  Committees  more  per¬ 
fectly  in  touch  with  the  wide  and  varied  views  represented  in 
the  Conference. 

Replies  after  receiving  this  communication  have  come  from 
twenty-two  Boards,  the  total  number  of  Boards  communicated 
with  being  fifty-six.  Of  these,  the  following  Boards  have 
approved  the  amendments  in  toto  :  The  Board  of  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sions  of  the  General  Council  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church  in  North  America;  The  Foreign  Mission  Board  of 
the  National  Baptist  Convention  ;  The  Foreign  Department  of 
the  International  Committee  of  Young  Men’s  Christian  Asso¬ 
ciations  ;  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  United  Brethren  in 
Christ;  The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  General  Synod 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America:  Foreign  Missionary  Association  of  Friends  of  Phila¬ 
delphia  ;  The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  United  Pres- 
bvterian  Church  of  North  America;  The  General  Conference 
of  Seventh  Day  Adventists;  Missionary  Education  Movement 

7 


of  the  United  States  and  Canada;  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States;  The  Board  of  For¬ 
eign  Missions  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

Five  of  the  Boards,  namely,  The  American  Board  of  Com¬ 
missioners  for  Foreign  Missions ;  The  Moravian  Church  in 
America;  American  Friends  Board  of  Foreign  Missions;  The 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Reformed  Church  in  America ; 
have  suggested  changes  as  follows : 

The  American  Board  heartily  endorsed  all  the  proposed  amend¬ 
ments  except  the  Additional  Amendment,  and  suggested  that  the 
maximum  term  of  service  be  two  terms  rather  than  one  term.  This 
Board  also  suggested  that  the  phrase  beginning  at  the  end  of  the 
third  line  of  the  section  entitled  “Functions”  be  made  to  read:  “and 
itself  to  perform  directly  or  through  its  Committees  any  specific  work 
of  interest  to  Boards  and  Societies  participating  in  the  Conference.” 

The  Moravian  Church  formally  approved  the  proposed  amendments, 
hut  the  Secretary  was  instructed  to  voice  doubts  as  to  the  advisability 
of  the  Additional  Amendment. 

The  American  Friends’  Board  favored  the  amendments  proposed, 
but  believed  it  may  be  well  to  omit  the  Additional  Amendment,  “be¬ 
lieving  that  rigid  adherence  to  the  practice  there  set  forth  would 
probably  result  in  a  decrease  of  efficiency  in  the  work  of  the  Con¬ 
ference.” 

The  Presbyterian  Board  suggested  three  minor  changes  as  fol¬ 
lows:  (1)  That  in  the  section  entitled  “Meetings,”  the  words  “this 
purpose”  be  made  to  read  “the  presentation  of  such  work.”  (2)  That 
in  the  section  entitled  “Voting,”  the  word  “first”  in  the  seventh  line 
be  dropped.  (3)  That  in  the  section  on  “Membership”  we  be  very 
sure  that  our  proposals  are  acceptable  to  a  Board  organized  like  the 
Methodist  Board.” 

The  Board  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America  voted  unanimously 
in  favor  of  the  first  six  amendments  but  against  the  adoption  of  the 
seventh  amendment. 

Your  Committee  would  report  to  the  Conference  the  fol¬ 
lowing  resolutions :  1 

1.  That  the  suggested  changes  in  so  far  as  they  relate  to 
the  first  six  sections  of  the  amendments  proposed,  be  adopted. 

2.  That  the  report  as  thus  amended,  with  the  exception  of 
the  additional  amendment,  be  adopted  as  a  whole. 

3.  That  the  additional  amendment  be  changed  so  that  it 
will  read  “after  a  lapse  of  one  year  subsequent  to  the  expira* 
tion  of  his  second  term  of  office.” 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

Charles  R.  Watson,  Chairman. 

Stanley  White. 

James  Endicott. 

John  W.  Wood. 

James  L.  Barton. 

Frank  M.  North. 

Miss  Mabel  Head. 

8 


